News Flash: Bulletin Goes Wire to Wire to Win Inaugural Palisades Turf Sprint at Keeneland

By Amy Owens —-

Click here for a video of all the excitement on opening day of Keeneland’s Spring Meet

News Flash: Bulletin Goes Wire to Wire
to Win Inaugural Palisades Turf Sprint at Keeneland

LEXINGTON, KY (April 4, 2019) – WinStar Farm, China Horse Club and SF Racing’s Bulletin shot to the front out of the gate and never trailed, posting a 1½-length victory over Real News to win Thursday’s inaugural running of the $100,000 Palisades Turf Sprint before a Spring Meet opening-day crowd of 11,601.

Trained by Todd Pletcher and ridden by Javier Castellano, Bulletin covered the 5½ furlongs on a firm turf course in 1:02.92 to remain undefeated in three starts. The victory extended Pletcher’s Keeneland record for stakes wins to 54.

Bulletin was pressured early by Yes I Am Free as he raced through the first quarter of a mile in 22.10. Second choice Abyssinian took up the chase on the far turn only to have Bulletin kick clear at the head of the lane and cruise home.

A Keeneland September Yearling Sale graduate, Bulletin closed his brief 2018 campaign with a similar front-running victory in the inaugural Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Churchill Downs.

A Kentucky-bred son of City Zip out of the Woodman mare Sue’s Good News, Bulletin has earned $655,570, including Thursday’s $60,000 check.

Sent off as the favorite in the field of 12, Bulletin rewarded his backers with payoffs of $4, $3 and $2.40. Real News, who rallied for second under Joel Rosario, returned $5.60 and $3.60 with Abyssinian finishing another 2¼ lengths back in third under John Velazquez and paying $2.80 to show.

It was another neck back to Vivid Verse in fourth with Uncapped, Tobacco Road, Yes I Am Free, Vogt, Mick’s Star, Dom Carlos (IRE), Strike Silver and Joyful Heart following in order.

Racing continues Friday with a 10-race program that begins at 1:05 p.m. ET with the 31st running of the $150,000 Kentucky Utilities Transylvania (G3) for 3-year-olds going 1 1/16 miles on the turf highlighting the card. The Kentucky Utilities Transylvania will be the afternoon’s ninth race with a 5:30 p.m.post time.

Quotes from the $100,000 Palisades Turf Sprint

Click here for a replay of the race

Javier Castellano (winning rider of Bulletin)
“This horse did it the right way He was pretty sharp out of the gate. He’s a special horse. You don’t see too many horses like that. He’s got so much talent. I just enjoyed the ride.”
On whether he expected Bulletin to kick on down the stretch after setting fast fractions
“Absolutely. The way he did it in the first part of the race – :22, :45 – I felt like he did it the right way. When I asked him, he responded so well. You have to encourage him a little bit because he’s the kind of horse who looks around a little bit. But this time he put it together. I like the way he did it today.”

Elliott Walden (President, CEO and Racing Manager of WinStar Farm, which co-owns Bulletin with China Horse Club and SF Racing)
“Any time you have a (talented) horse at 2 and they turn 3, they don’t always hold their form. His run in the Breeders’ Cup (Juvenile Turf Sprint) was special, so we were hoping that he would come back good. We’re just real excited to see him come back to the form that he showed in the Breeders’ Cup.”
On whether future plans might include racing Bulletin at Royal Ascot in England in June
“That’s kind of what we’re looking at. We’ll huddle up with Todd (Pletcher), let him do his job. He did a great job getting (Bulletin) ready for today. The horse was three (lengths) in front at the eighth pole, and I knew he wasn’t going to get beat then. He’s a very talented horse. We’d be honored to go to Royal Ascot.”

Ginny DePasquale (assistant to winning trainer Todd Pletcher)
“He always breaks very sharp from the gate and we were hoping he would get a good position, which he did. He was in the perfect spot and we are really pleased with his effort and Javier’s ride. Everything just came together. He has been training exceptionally well in Florida so we would have been disappointed if he didn’t win because he has been doing so well.”

Joel Rosario (rider of runner-up Real News)
“He broke sharp and was there with the group. In the turn, he fell back a little bit and they kind of got away from me. Turning for home, he was running. The winner got away a little bit in the turn, and I couldn’t catch him in the end. But (my horse) was running. It was a good race.”

John Velazquez (rider of third-place finisher Abyssinian)
“Perfect trip. She broke a little slow, but that was perfect because I knew (Bulletin) is pretty fast and I wanted to make sure I had a target in front of me. But he was too much.”

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For more than 80 years, the Keeneland Association has devoted itself to the health and vibrancy of the Thoroughbred industry. The world’s largest Thoroughbred auction house, Keeneland conducts four sales a year, in January, April, September and November, and its sales graduates dominate racing globally at every level. In April and October, Keeneland offers some of the highest caliber and richest Thoroughbred racing in the world. Keeneland hosted the Breeders’ Cup World Championships in 2015 and will hold the event again in 2020. Uniquely structured, Keeneland is a private, for-profit corporation that returns its earnings to the industry and the community in the form of higher purses and millions of dollars donated in support of horse industry initiatives and charitable contributions for education, research and health and human services throughout Central Kentucky. To learn more, visit Keeneland.com.